Local Treatment Services

Individual Counseling

Reality House Program’s staff are qualified professionals who provide assessment, counseling and education that is tailored to each individual's needs. These sessions are critical to the development of the crucial relationship between the client and the counselor. The content of the individual sessions is primarily concerned with setting and checking on the progress of the client’s individual goals. These sessions can be combined with conjoint sessions, including significant others in the treatment planning. Extra sessions are sometimes necessary during times of crisis to change the treatment plan.

Group Counseling

The open groups are run with a specific format for a specific purpose. Most clients who have attempted recovery will agree that stopping using is not that difficult; it is staying stopped that makes the difference. These groups are the means by which clients are taught how to stay in sobriety.

The purpose of the Relapse Prevention groups is to provide a setting where information about relapse can be learned and shared. The 32 relapse prevention topics are focused on behavior change, changing the patient’s cognitive/affective orientation, and connecting patients with 12- step support systems. Each group is structured with a consistent format during which: 1) clients are introduced if there are new members, 2) clients give an up to the moment report on their progress in recovery, 3) clients read the topic of the day and relate it to their own experience, 4) clients share their schedules, plans, and commitment to recovery from the end of group until the group meets again. Clients are encouraged during group to say something reflective of a positive change in attitude or recovery behavior, something supportive of other group members, and to abiding by group rules.

Self-Help Groups

AA/NA meetings are widely available, are free of charge, and provide a place where recovering people can meet others who are dealing with many of the same issues. Recently, there have been some well designed studies that have demonstrated empirically the usefulness of participation in 12-Step programs. The 12-Step group is also presented as a means to construct a schedule with drug-free activities during high-risk time periods.

Family Counseling

Family is defined as any supportive person who is willing and able to assist the substance addicted person in their recovery.
Substance dependency or addiction is not a disease that only affects the person abusing alcohol or other drugs. It also influences the lives of all those close to the person suffering from the disease.

In the initial stages of treatment, family members will need to decide whether they are willing to be part of the recovery process. It is often necessary for the counselor to schedule a session with family member to explain the manners in which they can be helpful in participating in the treatment process and strongly encouraging them to attend scheduled sessions. Addiction is presented to the family as a chronic condition which they can be helpful in remediating by providing support for the patient. . It is also important for significant others to be better prepared for the range of events such as lapses that may happen during the recovery process. Successfully engaging families in this component of treatment can significantly improve the probability of retaining the client in treatment.

Educational Groups

Accurate, understandable information helps patients understand what has been happening in the past and also what predictable changes that will occur in their thinking, mood, and relationships over the course of several months. This education process identifies and normalizes symptoms, thereby empowering them to draw upon resources and techniques to help manage the symptoms.
The educational component includes such program topics as: (a) the biology of addiction, describing concepts such as neurotransmitters, brain structure and function and drug tolerance; (b) conditioning and addiction, including concepts such as conditioned cues, extinction, and conditioned abstinence; (c) medical effects of drugs and alcohol on the heart, lungs, reproductive system, and brain; and (d) addiction and the family, describing how relationships are affected during addiction and recovery.

Urinalysis, Blood Alcohol, and Patch Testing

Reality House Programs, Inc. requires accurate information on the drug and alcohol use status of clients as they progress through treatment. The most accurate means of monitoring clients for drug and alcohol use during treatment is through the use of urine, breath alcohol, and patch testing. Tests can be analyzed on site or sent out to laboratories. Specimens can be monitored with temperature strips, they can be observed or unobserved. Regardless of the specific procedure used, the objective is the same: to monitor drug use and to provide feedback to the client.